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yawny wrote:Also, what dosage of Potassium Citrate did you take during your trial?

I took approx. 3,000 mg/day. My understanding is the recommended daily intake is 4,700 mg/day. I bought 500 grams of Potassium Citrate Powder. The reviews on Amazon indicated 1 tsp equated to approx. 2,200 mg of Potassium. I was aware of the risks of taking too much Potassium, so to be sure I bought a digital scale, and my measurements came out the the same. I took 1/2 tsp 3x/day.

I wonder if there is any kind of substantive difference between the OTC potassium citrate powder you used and the 10mEq pills I've received through prescription?

Rob wrote:I wonder if there is any kind of substantive difference between the OTC potassium citrate powder you used and the 10mEq pills I've received through prescription?

Seems the only difference is the extended release part, so maybe it’s being broken down and absorbed in different areas. That’s as medical as I get.

I talked to my pharmacist today, and he told me that the pills manufactured for pharmaceutical sales are regulated by the FDA differently than OTC pills or powder. He said that this regulation guarantees that the pharmaceutical pill will have the advertised level of product, whereas an OTC has no such guarantee. I've tried to research this, but I find it's difficult to get to the bottom of it. Does anyone have some insight on this?

Also, I've found varying answers to how many milligrams are in 10mEq of potassium citrate. I've seen 1050mg, 750mg, and the pharmacist today did a calculation and said it was about 350mg. Does anybody know how to do the math on this one?

Rob, all of those numbers are correct, they are just values that reflect different things.

The 1050mg value is the number of mg of Potassium Citrate in 10mEq.The 350mg value is the number of mg of Potassium ion.The 750mg value is the number of mg of Citrate ion.

They don't quite add up, because as your pharmacist said, all of the values are approximate and have been rounded off.

As for the issue of product strength, pharmaceutical grade materials not only undergo more strenuous testing for strength, they also have to meet much higher purity standards than OTC. So, the OTC product might have higher levels of other compounds depending upon how it was produced, like maybe citric acid, potassium chloride, sodium citrate, etc. Purity doesn't always mean something harmful, just things that are not true Potassium Citrate molecules.

Rustsmith wrote:Rob, all of those numbers are correct, they are just values that reflect different things.

The 1050mg value is the number of mg of Potassium Citrate in 10mEq.The 350mg value is the number of mg of Potassium ion.The 750mg value is the number of mg of Citrate ion.

They don't quite add up, because as your pharmacist said, all of the values are approximate and have been rounded off.

As for the issue of product strength, pharmaceutical grade materials not only undergo more strenuous testing for strength, they also have to meet much higher purity standards than OTC. So, the OTC product might have higher levels of other compounds depending upon how it was produced, like maybe citric acid, potassium chloride, sodium citrate, etc. Purity doesn't always mean something harmful, just things that are not true Potassium Citrate molecules.

Thank you for this explanation, Steve. I appreciate it. Can you possibly point me to a credible source that explains how the mEq numbers are calculated and relate to standard mgs?

Any general chemistry book explains how to calculate equivalent weights for chemicals. I simply performed the calculations using the molecular weights for potassium and citrate ions and the -3 valence of the citrate ion. The valence is necessary to convert molecular weights to equivalents.

I should explain that I am an adjunct professor of Chemical Engineering, so calculations like this are pretty trivial for me.

If you want to try to do it yourself, the atomic weight (molecular weight for a pure element) is 39.0983. The molecular weight for a citrate ion is 192.124. So the molecular weight for potassium citrate is 306.395 (39+192).

Rustsmith wrote:Any general chemistry book explains how to calculate equivalent weights for chemicals. I simply performed the calculations using the molecular weights for potassium and citrate ions and the -3 valence of the citrate ion. The valence is necessary to convert molecular weights to equivalents.

I should explain that I am an adjunct professor of Chemical Engineering, so calculations like this are pretty trivial for me.

If you want to try to do it yourself, the atomic weight (molecular weight for a pure element) is 39.0983. The molecular weight for a citrate ion is 192.124. So the molecular weight for potassium citrate is 306.395 (39+192).

Ah, thank you for this, Steve. My wife is a ChemE as well. I probably should have asked her in the first place!

Rob, to set the record straight, my training is as a Chemical Metallurgical Engineer. In my entire career, I have only met one other Chemical Metallurgist. So, I guide ChemE grad students in their research, partly because there are so few MetE schools and partly because most of the work at the school where I teach is based upon my prior research work (before retirement).